Jungle Games
by kathillards
Summary: When your Zords are animate and you're playing board games with them, make sure you don't lose. They might just orchestrate a way for you to almost kiss the girl of your dreams. Or, Jayden versus Emily. - Oneshot - Samurai - Jayden/Emily -


**Disclaimer: Saban owns PRS.**

**Spoilers for Episode 7: "I Put A Spell On Blue", takes place after the end of the episode.

* * *

**Roll. Clatter. Land.

"Awesome, two fives! Just what I needed!"

"Oh, come _on_, Em! That's the fifth time in a row you've beaten me!"

"Sorry, you're just going to have to live with it, fearless leader. Can't win everything, now, can you?"

"Clearly."

Jayden sighs, but it's impossible to mask the grin on his face as he watches Emily nudge her Ape into standing up and excitedly stomp to victory, pushing aside his Lion in the process. When she looks up from observing her fifth triumph, she flashes him a playful smile.

"Don't pretend you're not enjoying it," she teases, bracing her head on her palms. "You love this game as much as the rest of us. You're just better at hiding it."

"I always lose," he points out validly. "Usually to you."

"Doesn't mean you don't enjoy it!" she says in a sing-song voice. "And I'm sure your Lion zord appreciates the exercise."

As if on cue, his Lion huffs in disappoint, levels him a look that clearly says _you lost, _again_?_, and hops up to sit on Emily's shoulder in a none-too-subtle snub against its owner. Emily giggles, freeing a hand to pet his wayward zord.

"If he doesn't come to battle the next time I call him because he's mad at me for losing, I'm blaming you," Jayden warns her, suppressing an affectionate smile at the sight of his favorite zord sitting on his favorite girl – never mind.

"Oh, relax," Emily giggles. "It's not my fault he likes me better. And he's so _cute_!" she gushes, letting Lion crawl onto the palm of her hand and bounce around.

"What is it with you and cute things?" he asks, swinging his legs up onto the couch Mia and Kevin had vacated hours earlier and leaning back. "Or is it a girl thing that I just wouldn't understand?"

She shrugs, smiling as Lion treks up her arm, making noises as if it were prowling through the jungle. "Nothing silly like that. I just like cute things. It would explain why I spend so much time around you, wouldn't it?"

Jayden freezes, feeling his cheeks warm and his heart rate double, triple, quadruple at record speed, because there's no way she could have meant that, no way she could have possibly just said that she thinks he's cute…could she?

Emily glances up and smiles brightly at him, as if she hasn't realized what she just said. "So, any ideas on where everybody else disappeared to?"

"Uh," Jayden says, trying to collect his thoughts. "They probably got tired of losing and went to go eat dinner. Speaking of which, aren't you hungry?"

"Maybe a little," she admits. "And stop acting like I won every game, you sore loser. Mike, Mia, and Kevin all won at least two games before they left."

"I didn't win any," he points out, attempting to sound sulky. "And that's definitely your fault, because we're the only one who've been playing for the last three games."

"You know, you don't pull off the brooding, sulking little boy look very well," she informs him, clearly trying to smother a giggle. "Wouldn't that also be your fault for not leaving when the rest of them did, if you dislike losing so much?"

"Well, I can pull off brooding, mysterious anti-hero, can't I?" he challenges, grinning. "It's not losing a board game that matters, it's – "

"Losing to a girl?" Emily suggests cheekily, ducking her head as his zord bounces from shoulder to shoulder. "A younger girl, at that?"

"No," he says quickly, glancing away from her playful smile. "Just…well, I wouldn't have left you alone without someone to play with, at any rate."

"Aren't you sweet?" she giggles, though, if he's not mistaken, she's blushing. "Come on, let's get this cleaned up if you don't want to lose again. And you might want to reclaim your little Lion zord."

Jayden grins and reaches over to take his zord, his hand running over her shoulder and loose blond curls to cup his zord up. Lion roars suddenly, and he becomes acutely aware of how _close_ Emily is, of the fact that her lips are right in front of his and her pretty hazel eyes are fixed on him, and if he leaned just a little forward, he'd be able to angle his head and press his lips to hers –

"Hey, are you two coming for din—uh, did I interrupt something?"

It's funny how all throughout the day, he's never once blamed Kevin for trying to kill them, but he really feels like blaming him for interrupting _this_.

Emily pulls away from him, her eyes wide, obviously having just realized how the scene looks to a half-traumatized Kevin, what with Jayden's hand on her shoulder and her face within kissing distance of his own. "Um, no, nothing," she breathes, scrambling away from him.

Jayden swallows, looking away from her. "Yeah, nothing. We were just cleaning up."

"Well, Mike ordered pizza, in case you're interested." Kevin hesitates, and in the silence that lingers, it becomes increasingly obvious that the ending to his sentence is '_in anything besides each other_'.

Emily's definitely blushing by now. "We'll be right there," she assures him.

Kevin raises an eyebrow, but backs away from doorway. "All right, then. Have fun – erm – cleaning up."

Jayden feels his own cheeks heat up as Kevin walks out of the room, already imagining the teasing that'll most certainly come from Mike and maybe even Mia. "So, uh, let's clean this up, yeah?"

Emily smiles. "Yeah, all right. I'll put the cards away."

"I got the board," he says, waiting for her to scoop up all the cards before folding up the game board. "That was – um, that was fun."

"It was," she agrees, smiling and standing up, the cards discarded on the table. "And Jayden?"

"Hm?" he asks, trying to focus on putting the board away instead of on how close she's standing and how he can smell honey and strawberry from her shampoo and how he can practically feel her breath ghost over his cheeks.

Emily stands on her tip-toes and presses a kiss to his cheek. "Thanks for playing with me."

Jayden nearly drops the game board at the sensation of her lips warm and sweet on his skin. "Um," he says eloquently. "I – uh, you're welcome?"

She giggles. "Was that a question or a statement?"

He clears his throat. "A statement."

Emily flashes him a smile. "We should probably finish cleaning this up," she notes.

"Right," Jayden gulps, sliding the game board into its holder and shoving his Lion zord into his pocket before it tried to make another leap towards Emily. "Let's do that."

"Before you lose again."

"You're impossible."

* * *

**Author's Notes: Aren't they just adorable together? :D ****Please don't favorite without reviewing, and please review to tell me what you thought, more than just "so cute!" and/or "loved it!" :) Thanks!**


End file.
